Mit - Index

Mit - UVK_Sinfo_2008_04April_1 - Index

QUoTESofThEfortnight
sinfo april 08 2
Marjan Hribar / Director-General of the Tourism Directorate/
In the sphere of sustainable development in tourism,
Slovenia certainly doesn’t lag behind the most competitive
tourist states, Lipica, April 15: Perhaps in this sphere, it is in
some things even a step ahead compared to others. Slovenia
has recently taken numerous steps ahead towards an increasing
ecological awareness, and the first certificates were recently
awarded with regard to that. The analysis of the World Economic
Forum on sustainable development in tourism placed Slovenia,
among 130 countries, in 17th place in the world, which is good.
The Slovenian invitation for applications for selection of the European
Destination of Excellence 2008 this year received applications
for 16 destinations. As the winning destination, which
Slovenia will nominate to the European Commission for the title
European Destination of Excellence 2008, the commission chose
the SoËa valley.
Žiga Turk /Minister of Development/ Climate changes can also be
good for business, Brdo pri Kranju, April 16: Climate change don’t only
represent the costs needed to fight them or to adjust to them; at the
same time they are a business opportunity. Namely, the combat against
climate change accelerates growth and creates jobs in industries such
as, for example, the building sector and renewable energy sources.
Only the industry of renewable energy sources already provides around
two million jobs worldwide; by 2020 it is expected to create another
700,000. But for the European economy to seize the opportunities
brought by these changes, sustainable production processes, products,
ownership and consumer patterns, lifestyles and indicators need to be
implemented. That means the formation of appropriate policies, which
will encourage the improvement of energy efficiency and development
of clean technologies. Through that, the economy will experience a
third industrial revolution, which will bring the transition from underground
to above-ground energy, from fossil fuels to renewable sources,
such as solar and wind energy, and biomass.
Zofija Mazej KukoviË /Minister of Health/: Fighting cancer
requires an interdisciplinary approach, Ljubljana, April 17: The
common denominator is the realisation that for a disease such
as cancer, and of course, for other diseases, an interdisciplinary
approach is necessary. We need to aspire to return the patients
to their workplace, to their family, back to society, where they
will have a life worth living. The interdisciplinary approach is well
unknown, not only in individual countries, but also in Europe.
Cancer is still the second most important cause of death in the
EU as a whole, and the best way to fight it is prevention. Special
attention therefore needs to be dedicated also to combating
all risk factors, such as smoking, over-consumption of alcohol,
obesity and lack of exercise. With timely detection, cancer is not
death, but survival, and this is our task, the task of politics, to
keep cancer high on the agenda of European policy.
Joseph Daul /Chairman of the European People’s Party (EPP)
group in the European Parliament/: Slovenia presiding without
much “pomp”, Portorož, April 17: Slovenia is presiding over the
EU discretely, without much pomp. The Slovenian Presidency has
faced very difficult questions, such as the independence of Kosovo
and the Galileo programme; it is an important achievement
for a small country. Slovenia is using new technologies to its advantage;
the economy is successful despite difficult conditions;
unemployment is lower than ever before, but the problem of
inflation remains. We are all going to face the challenge of higher
oil and food prices; the socialists cannot put the responsibility for
the problems which are not of European and national, but of a
global nature, on our governments.